It’s a shame really, that Barack Obama gave that speech when he did. Because as powerful, deep, and truly important as it was, because it was in the middle of the presidential campaign, because it was (apparently) in response to the firestorm created by Obama’s close friendship with the controversial Rev’d Wright, pundits and election watchers, listened, were moved briefly, decided whether the controversy was put to rest, then moved on to the next juicy tidbit from the campaign trail. Pearls before swine perhaps.
This speech is important in so many ways. Ironically, though pundits have characterised Obama’s relationship with Rev’d Wright as a dangerous liability, it it only because of this friendship that Obama was able to get away with saying some of the things that he did.Because of Obama’s friendship with Rev’d Wright, the Obama’s repudiation of the comments, but refusal to repudiate the man was interpreted as “I’m not going to throw my good friend under a bus, even though he says things that I strongly disagree with from time to time.” But if you listen (or read) carefully, Obama is also saying that although to some ears, Rev’d Wright’s comments sound outrageous, maybe even treasonous, these are sentiments that many (perhaps most) blacks share or have experienced at some point in their lives. This is the experience of being black in America.
Now, Obama’s repudiation of the words but not the man is more palatable to many because of their close friendship. This glosses over the other half of what Obama was saying: I can’t repudiate this man because he says these things, because these things he says are real emotions reflecting a terrible past (and present) of second-class citizenry. If it were Farakhan saying these things, there’s no way Obama could get away with this speech, though all the points would be just as valid. This makes white America extremely uncomfortable. Every time a black person airs this deep-seated anger publicly, white America writes them off as “black racists”, dismissing them and their anger as outside the realm of reasonable discourse. It’s unsettling to think that the black lawyer or doctor or accountant, who appears in speech, dress, habits to be nothing more or less than a dark skinned version of the white professional, is just as angry, just as bitter, just as alienated.
In many ways this speech is saying: “I believe in America. But don’t fool yourself, though some progress has been made, America is still a racist place, and black Americans are mad as hell about it, even though they don’t show it every day, and definitely don’t show it in the presence of white Americans. Legitimately so. At the same time, many white Americans are resentful that they are being punished and denied opportunities because of the racist sins of the past. I’m going to walk you through the reasons why this is so, and perhaps this will bring us to a place where we can start to fix things.”
All of these things needed to be said so badly for so long. Sadly, for many, this speech was an attempt at political spin. Let’s hope that it has more lasting value than that.
a more perfect union (cont’d)
It’s a shame really, that Barack Obama gave that speech when he did. Because as powerful, deep, and truly important as it was, because it was in the middle of the presidential campaign, because it was (apparently) in response to the firestorm created by Obama’s close friendship with the controversial Rev’d Wright, pundits and election watchers, listened, were moved briefly, decided whether the controversy was put to rest, then moved on to the next juicy tidbit from the campaign trail. Pearls before swine perhaps.
This speech is important in so many ways. Ironically, though pundits have characterised Obama’s relationship with Rev’d Wright as a dangerous liability, it it only because of this friendship that Obama was able to get away with saying some of the things that he did.Because of Obama’s friendship with Rev’d Wright, the Obama’s repudiation of the comments, but refusal to repudiate the man was interpreted as “I’m not going to throw my good friend under a bus, even though he says things that I strongly disagree with from time to time.” But if you listen (or read) carefully, Obama is also saying that although to some ears, Rev’d Wright’s comments sound outrageous, maybe even treasonous, these are sentiments that many (perhaps most) blacks share or have experienced at some point in their lives. This is the experience of being black in America.
Now, Obama’s repudiation of the words but not the man is more palatable to many because of their close friendship. This glosses over the other half of what Obama was saying: I can’t repudiate this man because he says these things, because these things he says are real emotions reflecting a terrible past (and present) of second-class citizenry. If it were Farakhan saying these things, there’s no way Obama could get away with this speech, though all the points would be just as valid. This makes white America extremely uncomfortable. Every time a black person airs this deep-seated anger publicly, white America writes them off as “black racists”, dismissing them and their anger as outside the realm of reasonable discourse. It’s unsettling to think that the black lawyer or doctor or accountant, who appears in speech, dress, habits to be nothing more or less than a dark skinned version of the white professional, is just as angry, just as bitter, just as alienated.
In many ways this speech is saying: “I believe in America. But don’t fool yourself, though some progress has been made, America is still a racist place, and black Americans are mad as hell about it, even though they don’t show it every day, and definitely don’t show it in the presence of white Americans. Legitimately so. At the same time, many white Americans are resentful that they are being punished and denied opportunities because of the racist sins of the past. I’m going to walk you through the reasons why this is so, and perhaps this will bring us to a place where we can start to fix things.”
All of these things needed to be said so badly for so long. Sadly, for many, this speech was an attempt at political spin. Let’s hope that it has more lasting value than that.